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Inspired by the predominance of fluff and fuzz on the runways, as well as the debates around body hair as a style or political statement, in early 2016, SHOWstudio editor Lou Stoppard asked groups of Central Saint Martins students to pitch and create different series based on the theme of hair. A range of work by the eight groups, on topics such as bearded ladies and grey hair, is displayed below.

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In early 2016, SHOWstudio editor Lou Stoppard was invited by Hywel Davies to envisage, teach and mark a special project with Central Saint Martins students. Pupils from across three pathways - fashion journalism, fashion history and theory, and fashion communication and promotion - came together to respond to Lou Stoppard's brief to pitch and create a series based around the theme of hair. The topic was inspired both by key objects on the runways - Gucci's now ubiquitous kangaroo-lined loafers, the brainchild of clutter magpie Alessandro Michele, Shane Olivier’s wig-embellished pieces for Hood by Air, and Phoebe Philio’s fuzz-lined Birkenstocks, the shoe that launched a thousand copies - and more general discussions about facial and body hair: the rise of the beard as an emblem of gentrification or hipster culture, the drives on Instagram and other social media channels to normalise visible female body hair, the Tumblr trends for dyed armpit hair, the opinion pieces arguing that it is time to stop politicising black hair. Other key outputs, from Hair: Guido, featuring photographs by David Sims and published in 2014, to the Sam McKnight exhibition, scheduled for November 2016 at Somerset House, also inspired the project.

To spark students’ imagination, Stoppard invited Shonagh Marshall, curator of the Sam McKnight exhibition, to deliver a guest lecture, while Central Saint Martins academics Judith Watt and Alistair O'Neill each offered a unique perspective on hair in fashion. The former focused on red hair and its reputation and symbolism, while the latter gave a preview of his research into the work of photographer Richard Avedon, focusing on ‘big hair.’